The present invention relates to a fibrous fishing lure having absorbed therein a fish attracting substance.
A wide variety of fishing lures have been developed for attracting a fish to a hook. In addition to the use of fishing lures themselves, it has been found advantageous to use scented substances which are known to have fish-attractant properties. Such substances include oils and extracts which provide an odor in the water which attracts fish to the fishing area.
In using such fish attractants, a recurring problem has been the delivery of the fish attractants underwater to the area where the fish are. One method has been to pour or spread the fish attractant on the surface of the water in the form of an oil. Because the oil remains on or near the surface of the water and does not necessarily follow the lure, the providing of fish attractant on the surface of the water is often ineffective.
In an alternate method, the fish attractant can be applied directly to the exterior of the lure. However, once the lure contacts the water, the fish attractant is usually quickly dispersed, thereby necessitating frequent reapplication of the fish attractant to the lure. Because the fish attractant must be frequently reapplied to the lure, prolonged use of the lure in the water is not possible. Similarly, a sponge-like lure or part thereof could be filled with fish attractant, but frequent reapplication of the fish attractant would still be required, making prolonged use of the lure difficult.
Various lures have been devised which are incorporated with fish attractant substances. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,179, granted to Larew for a "Salt Impregnated Fishing Lure" discloses a plastic molded fishing lure having incorporated throughout a sufficient quantity of salt to give the lure a salty taste, thereby making the lure attractive to fish. However, the molding of the fish attractant directly in such a lure does not necessarily assure a constant, uniform rate of entry of the attractant into the water around the lure to provide continuous attraction of fish to the adjacent hooks. U.S. Pat. No. 3,953,934, granted to Visser for a "Odoriferous Fishing Device" discloses a fishing lure having a rigid, sintered metal body including a network of interconnected pores filled with a fish attractant. The attractant is released into the water from the pores to attract fish to the hook. A disadvantage with such a lure is that filling the pores with the fish attractant is relatively difficult. This is because the lure itself is not absorbent, and the fish attractant must be forced into the lure by some means, such as by placing the lure in a container of fish attractant and then pulling a vacuum on the container.